Ms Sturgeon wants the backing of the Scottish Parliament in pursuing a “Section 30” order from the UK government. The power to call a referendum is reserved to Westminster, and this order would transfer the authority to hold a vote to Holyrood.

Ms Sturgeon wants a referendum “to give the people of Scotland a choice over the future direction and governance of their country”, to be held between Autumn 2018 and the Spring of 2019. The motion “mandates the Scottish government to take forward discussions with the UK government on the details” of this and also calls for Holyrood to set the question, timing and franchise for the vote.

Image copyrightReuters

Image caption
Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May are meeting at a hotel in Glasgow

On the first day of the debate, Ms Sturgeon said Scotland’s future should be decided by the people who live there, rather than being “imposed” on them.

She told MSPs that she could not leave Scotland to “simply drift through the next two years, crossing our fingers, hoping for the best while fearing the worst”.

She added: “It would mean accepting that at the end of this process we will not even have the option of choosing an alternative path, and that the direction of our nation will be decided for us.

“I do not consider that to be right, or fair. The future of Scotland should not be imposed upon us, it should be the choice of the people of Scotland.”

‘Now is not the time’

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said voters were “sick to death of the SNP’s games”, with her MSPs expected to vote against the motion alongside Labour and the Lib Dems.

However, the government is expected to win the vote, with the six Green MSPs joining the SNP’s 63 to give them a comfortable pro-independence majority.

Speaking on Monday during a visit to Scotland, Mrs May said: “My position is very simple, and it hasn’t changed. It is that now is not the time to be talking about a second independence referendum.

“That’s for a couple of reasons – first of all, now is the point when we’re triggering Article 50, we’re starting the formal negotiations for leaving the European Union.

“Now is a time when we should be pulling together, not hanging apart. Pulling together to ensure we get the best possible deal for the whole of the UK, including the people of Scotland.

“And I think it would be unfair on the people of Scotland to ask them to make significant decision until all of the facts are known, at a point where nobody knows what the situation is going to be.”

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